Sony Ericsson TM506
Phone Scoop Review
Sep 8, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile have teamed up for the first time in four years to offer the 3G-equipped TM506. It is capable in many departments, but falls short in others. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Bummer!
I was soooo looking forward to this phone. I love its overall look, feel, large bright screen, the crisp camera pictures it takes and how customizable it is BUT it's reception at may home is a deal breaker. I can only get 3 bars inside my home (5 if I "hug" the window) and voice conversations break up terribly. I find this odd since I've have had a Moto Razr V3t for 18 months here and it always got 5 bars any where inside the house. Guess it is a weakness of the phone, so back it goes. I had the same experience when I demoed this phone inside the T-Mobile store but thought nothing of it... the test call I made to my wife was dropped and the phone showed a low signal strength. I wonder if it just sucks inside buildings? I live in a major metro area so the signal strenght should be good.
An upside is that I do not have to buy the proprietary Sony card ($20) and data cable ($25) so that I could use all of the phones features. For example, I could not transfer photos from my RAZR's micro SD card to the phones memory, which is adequate for me. I had to buy the Sony memory stick card to make it happen. Too many proprietary issues for a market place full of phones with fairly standardized cards and data cables. Argh!
Buyer Beware and Be Aware!
I have to say, I LOVE my phones theoretical capabilities...but thats it. I have had this phone since Christmas and am now on my 3rd unit. Battery life is excellent as is the reception. Sound quality from the mp3 player is outstanding for the size of the phone. Easily heard throughout a moderately quiet room with excellent quality. The software on the other hand is lacking. The interface is a crisp screen with slow software that will make the feel more like a smart-phone. I moved to this phone from a Dash to get away from the lag time in windows mobile only to find this one just as slow. Also, I have had 3 blue-tooth headsets that I have tried to work with this phone hence the 3 units. All of them disconnect from the headset about every 15 minutes. Powersave is turned off. All the blue-tooth earpieces work without any problems on every other phone that I have tried (ie. Friends, family, older cells that I still have). If you buy this phone, it will only work with other sony products. If you wouldn't trade every piece of computer equipment to switch from a pc to a mac or vise versa, then don't get this phone if you don't have all sony accessories that you would like to use with this phone. What a monopoly.
Pros-
1. Battery
2. Reception
3. Camera/Screen Quality (Outstanding)
Cons-
1. NO 3rd party support
2. Software Hangs Up
3. Bluetooth only compatible with Sony or else it's hit or miss
4. Can only use a sony memory stick!
I don't believe that it is fair that a company makes it so that if you buy their product, that supposedly adhears to protocol standards, then you are limited to their accessories only. Sounds unfair to me. I like free enterprise. Good Luck.
Great features, sometimes irritating menu lag
The phone is easy to navigate/ customize. Call clarity is excellent. Display is beautiful. I haven't tried the mp3 player yet (no data cable). I have blue-toothed files back and forth with my kids. Battery life is so-so.
Sometimes there is an irritating lag when accessing menus (and even on opening the phone). The lag can be long enough that you wonder if you pushed the button or in the case of opening phone - if the phone is on).
Pros:
1. Phone feels nice in hand
2. Call clarity is great
3. Brilliant display (bright/vivid)
4. Easy to customize/navigate
5. Love that I can type a long text message and the phone breaks it apart to send (as opposed to me having to create/send multiple messages).
6. Loud ringers, easy to hear.
7. Like the option to see my email through t-mail - without incurring a data charge (counts as text messaging). That said, it can be slow to look at the emails - and since I would rather answer on my computer - I probably won't use this.
Cons:
1. Menu lag time (on my phone, not always present, and when it is present - it is in varying degrees)
2. No back-light for cover or screen (the light is either on or it is off - and it is not possible to alter this). The light does start dimming before it goes off - so if you are looking at something - you can then just hit the toggle key to keep in on another 15 or 20 seconds.
3. Would have preferred a window on the front of the phone, but instead there is a small rectangular window that displays the time (or a message - such as letting you know you have a new text message).
4. Wish there were some type of notification on the phone for missed messages/calls (my Sprint Katana had a small light that would occasionally flash which was helpful).
For me the pros outweigh the cons. There is no perfect phone - so it is a matter of deciding what things you can live with (and without). If it weren't for the menu lag, this phone would be pretty close to perfect for me.
